Multisport, Trailrun, Swimrun

Meny

salomonrunningswe

I’m right in the middle of week 36 and as there aren’t that many weeks left of my pregnancy, I’ll share some reflections on how I have experienced it so far and my thoughts on what’s coming up.

I have one earlier pregnancy I can relate to and this one has developed very similar to my previous one. Both my pregnancies have been uncomplicated without any pain or injuries, and I’ve kept my training routines, but with some modifications.

As I’m carrying a baby, there is some obvious impact on my body. My blood volume have increased by 50%, I have gained 8 kg, my abdominal muscles are stretched out and the increased level of relaxin relaxes my ligaments. At the same time, most of my muscle groups are still working fine and if I maintain these muscles, it might be easier to come back to my ordinary training afterwards. Taking this into account I rather work on my local muscle functions and not on my oxygen capacity during this time.

I haven’t followed any specific guidance about training during pregnancy and I don’t rely on general advices as each pregnancy seem to be so individual. Instead I try to follow my gut feeling. I do what feels best, both physically and mentally. If an activity feels ok physically, but I’m worried if it may give consequences afterwards, then I rather adapt my activity. E.g. running has worked well for me but I have chosen to stop around week 30 in both my pregnancies as I’m uncertain if the relaxin in combination with a bigger belly creates unnecessary strain on my pelvic floor and ligaments.

Running in week 25 when my baby bump was pretty small

As a cross-country skier in my youth, one of my favorite training disciplines in summer was skidgång/elghufs in ski slopes and I find this a perfect 3rd trimester activity replacing my running sessions. Intervals in the hills or ski slope give me the same endorphins as running and is more gentle to my body.

Skidgång week 35 with a bigger belly

The major difference between my pregnancies is that this one involves swimming. Five years ago swimming was not a part of my training. Being an outdoor athlete it was a long process to adapt to the indoor pool training. Nowadays I really appreciate the early mornings in the pool and my pregnancy has not affected my routines of swimming. I swim in a group where I normally is the weakest swimmer (and being pregnant hasn’t really increased my speed). The modifications I do to keep my pulse/intensity down is to use a pullbouy and paddles. In that way I can still join the training session with the group and it gives me heap of inspiration to share the same lane as them.

All in all I have about the same lifestyle and everyday routines as when I’m not pregnant. My ambition is to return to competitive racing after pregnancy but before I can plan for any future races I have a delivery and the subsequent rehab to accomplish. This is not a walk in the park and it definitely includes many uncertainties.

My previous child birth went as expected until the last hour when it felt like things just happened very quick without anyone being ready, not least myself. I thought I would be much more in control of the situation. Maybe I was fooled from the saying that childbirth can be compared to a marathon. It’s nothing like that at all! A marathon I can prepare and practice beforehand. If I get injured I can withdraw. I’m always in control of my body and the situation. During labour I’ll need to work with people I don’t know and rely on the decisions they take in the moment.

When I worry for something in a race I use to practice it beforehand to find out how to control and handle the situation. Practicing child birth with different potential complications is not possible in the same way. Studying and reading about it just makes me more aware of everything that can go wrong and complications that can arise afterwards. But I will continue to find ways to prepare as I need to become more confident even though I can’t control it as I want to. And I bring with me, that just as a race seldom goes as planned, a solid preparation makes it a lot easier to reach the finish line despite hiccups along the way..

March is here and the light is starting to come back to Sweden. Running in a partly snow-free forest is never as wonderful as it is after a few months of ice and snow. Everything gets easier when the temperature rise and you can remove some layers of clothes. This is the time of the year when you normally feel faster and stronger for every session… Or not.

Our big boy is curious to listen whether the baby is breathing as loud as me

This year I’m going into
spring knowing that I will become heavier and slower! It’s also inspirational
in its way, it reminds me to be grateful for every training session that I can
do because I don’t know how I will feel next week.

I’ve had a fantastic winter.
After two months of tiredness in late autumn I passed the magic 12 weeks border
in December and felt stronger than ever. Not really because I physically was
stronger. Probably the opposite, but every training session gave so much
positive energy. Perhaps because I moved focus from a strive that every session
must be of high quality to just enjoy that I can run and train as I want to.

Everything doesn’t always go as planned though. After ÖtillÖ last autumn Annika and I worked on a project to highlight the massive plastic pollution in the oceans and to raise money for the development of recycling infrastructure on Nusa Lembongan. In October and November we organized weekly training events in Stockholm to contribute to the fundraising project Bali Hope Swimrun. Unfortunately, I could not attend the final event in Bali as the Zika virus is present there. Thanks to Peter Aronsson who, with late notice stepped in, we could fulfill our project and Annika and Peter delivered a perfect race.

It was of course sad to not
being able to go to Bali as planned but this project has only just started and
there is much more to come. I’m excited to continue working with Annika on this
and to see what we can accomplish.

But one thing at the time. For the coming months it’s someone else who has the power of my body. He or she weights around 700g and is around 30 cm tall and all I can do is to listen to this tiny creature and act accordingly. It might sound difficult, but it’s not that complicated. It’s interesting how quickly both my brain and body adapts to these new conditions. A pregnancy in itself is not an illness or an injury. It’s just that you need to put someone else in the first room.

Our third consecutive win at ÖtillÖ World Championship. It’s an unbelievable feeling.

Below an extract from ÖtillÖ press release, followed by my race report in Swedish.

The top teams pushed the pace to incredible speeds at the 13th edition of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship, one of the toughest one day races in the world. Conditions were ideal for a quick pace on the 75 km long race course in the Stockholm archipelago but no one had expected the course records in each category men, mixed and women to be crushed with such incredible times.

The undefeated duo Annika Ericsson and Kristin Larsson (SWE) had a fierce battle against second placed women’s team Fanny Danckwardt and Desirée Andersson (SWE), who led a big part of the course but finally finished 3,49 minutes after the leaders who beat their own record from 2016 with not less than 36 minutes. ”Today’s conditions were just perfect, warm water and no wind. We have been able to race properly without being stiff and cold as previous years. We also met really tough competition this year so we had to keep on pushing”, said Kristin Larsson at the finish at Utö after the team’s third world championship gold in swimrun and record fast time in the women’s category.

Racing in UK was not in our calendar until a few weeks ago. Both Daniel and I recovered well after ÖtillÖ and were excited to explore the well-known Lake District National Park.

Lake District is famous for its lakes, forests and fell and we got to discover it all last weekend together with 120 other participants in Breca Swimrun Coniston.

Breca Swimrun is a serie of swimrun races in UK and New Zealand providing six different races in challenging landscapes during the year.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

Race morning met us with an autumnal morning mist. Lakes were calm and the only people around were wearing wetsuits and swim caps.

Even though the hour before the race was unusually quiet and peaceful, the 700 meter swim start put us right into race mode.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

We did a great swim and exited the swim just 20m after the first men team. They put up a fast and furious speed on the first run. Daniel took up the same speed without any problems and I was just trying to hold in there..

It was a speedy start of a 5 hour race but it felt good. I love the excitement of racing close to another team.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

Out on the second running section we came in to more technical terrain. I was curious to see how our technical running was compared to our fellow racers. We were more or less together up the first hill and they were getting some meters on the technical downhill. Ok, no advantage for us there.

Even while realizing I was the slowest of all four of us it still felt good. We were going to spend at least four more hours on the course and even though speed and pulse was high I felt that Daniel and I controlled our pace very well and I did not got stressed.

In the lakes both teams had more or less the same speed and we stayed together, taking turns in fronting the swims.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

Halfway into the race there was a 15km long fell run. We cabbed down our wetsuits, put away our paddles and just enjoyed the run. The combination of high speed, wet rocks and slippery ground made it pretty technical and I felt great being able to keep up with the guys.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

Entering Lake Windermere we found ourselves in the front and pushed hard to not get caught during the swim.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

We felt relatively strong and put in one extra gear the last hour. My suffering level did also increase. The swims were cold and I got tired from the high speed. But still with a positive mind as we got a gap to the chasing team.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

After some shorter swim and run sections we had yet another beautiful fell run in front of us.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

I enjoyed the fast run at the same time as I tried to reassemble my forces for what was coming. We finished off with the longest swim of the day in Grasmere Lake. Strong headwind and cold temperature together with a tired body made sure we didn’t had a walk in the park to the finish line. I focused on counting my strokes, knowing that each stroke would take us one step closer to the shore.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

I was shivering all the 2km road run to the finish line but still keeping my mind and body prepared to sprint in case we would have to. Luckily we had no need to increase the speed as we had managed to build up a gap of 8 minutes.

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

It was a great feeling to cross the finish line as the first team and knowing that the bathtub in our hotel room was waiting for us just 100m away. I stumbled right from the finish area into a warm bath..

Photo: Wildman Media – Paul Mitchell

Breca Coniston was a great race that reminded me why I’m competing. I love racing close to another team and push hard. Lake District is also an awesome place! We enjoyed the landscape in a slower pace the day after the race.